


Chasing a starlight

by Bexyrogers41



Series: Star-filled eyes [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Bonds, F/M, Friendship, developing feelings, mysterious character, rose isn't the only companion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2019-07-27 20:46:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16227029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bexyrogers41/pseuds/Bexyrogers41
Summary: Eleanor 'Ellie' McDermott has been plagued by the same dreams almost her entire life, dreams that always seemed to surround one man, his face everchanging. She believed he was nothing but a figment of her imagination until the day she gets saved with her best friend Rose Tyler by a man with starlight in his eyes. What if this Doctor was the man she'd been seeing in her dreams?. And why does she feel like she's known him all her life?.





	1. Prologue

Dear Diary,

I dreamt about him last night. Not that I was expecting my sleeping mind not to be graced by his presence. He looked the same as he did the past few nights; blonde, about ten years older then me (you know I refuse to think about how old I am!), his clothes a little odd as they always are, white or cream, like those men always wore at cricket matches in the olden days. What was still really weird to me was the thing he had in his lapel. You'd expect men to wear flowers there not sticks of celery!. His face is different as always, but his eyes....they're still the same, full of starlight, older then his face seems to be. He wasn't alone this time, three other people with him, young looking like him. I know it was just a dream like it always is, but I couldn't help but feel envious, an emotion I know all too well. Don't know how I'm gonna get through today, my mind still stuck on the star-filled man from my dreams. I just hope it goes quick!!.

Guess that's all for today.

Same time tomorrow. 

E.M.

"Ugghh, okay, I'm up," I grumbled, the loud blare of my alarm clock making me jump a little feeling instantly thankful that I'd finished writing, my free hand reaching over, killing the alarm, the sound still making me think of the bell at my high school telling me when we had to get back to class. Guess I'd forgotten to cancel my alarm having woken up about twenty minutes early, the dream having made it impossible for me to try and catch another few minutes before having to force myself out of bed for the day.

My entire life or at least it had felt like that, I'd been dreaming about this man, this one man whose face was always changing. Somehow I know it's the same man even though he looks different. It's hard not to recognise those eyes, eyes that looked ancient, eyes that were filled with starlight. Sometimes he was alone, stood in this weird, circular room, some kind of...machinery in front of him, him moving around it fast, some sort of tunnel moving up and down. Sometimes he would be with others, people, young like him and sometimes younger. And sometimes I would see others, clearly not human, clearly alien if such a thing actually exists which I doubt. 

I would always remember my dreams when I woke up hence why I keep a diary, something I've been doing for the past couple of years. It just felt like the most natural thing to do even though I'm obviously never gonna show it to others. 

I close my diary putting it down on my bedside table letting out a heavy and slightly weary sigh, forcing myself to get out of bed taking the opportunity to have a good long stretch, my arms raising above my head then dropping my hands to my hair, running my fingers through my dark brown locks which now rest at just above my lower back. I know I should cut it, but I can't bring myself to do it, my hair having always been my favourite feature. 

I pulll off my night gown, slipping into my dressing gown then making my way out of my bedroom making my way into the bathroom, shutting the door after me then heading towards the shower, opening the door then turning on the dials, letting the water heat up. 

My hand moves to my necklace, my fingers brushing over the shell-shaped stone hanging from the silver chain. It was something I'd had my whole life, something I was left by my aunt after she'd sadly left this world. For some reason, I refused to take it off, my aunt having been my only family, my parents nowhere to be seen. 

I check the temperature of the water finding it's just right, jumping in, moving underneath the shower head, closing my eyes. Suddenly, they snap open, one hand moving to my head, hearing one word in my mind screaming at me, making me gasp, my free hand moving to the shower wall.

"Doctor."


	2. Ellie and Rose Part One

Have you ever gotten the feeling that your whole life was going to change, that with one single simple action and decision that you were officially leaving your old life behind?. Guess that's exactly how I've been feeling and not just from the moment I opened my eyes this morning. 

I don't know how to explain it, how to describe the....sensation buried deep in the pit of my stomach given me metaphorical butterflies, making me feel almost as if someone had thrust a red hot poker underneath my skin. I've been feeling like this for the past few days, like I was Spiderman with his spidey sense. 

I know the dreams haven't been helping, them being worse then ever the past three days and nights. I'd always suffered the dreams and sometimes nightmares, but they seem even more frequent as of late. Feels like everytime I close my eyes I see 'his' face, those ancient, star-filled eyes. His face may not always be the same, but it's impossible not to recognise those eyes. In all my life, I've never seen eyes like his, filled with pain and loneliness as well as time and space. 

I've been dreaming about him since I was a child and yet I never heard his name spoken even by the other people who would appear in those dreams. What had happened this morning, hearing that word in my head, somehow I knew it was his name. 

"Doctor."

I don't know how I knew, but I felt instantly like that was his name even though I know it's not exactly a normal name. But putting that name to all his different faces, it just felt right.

I have no idea what I'm still doing here, my shift having ended an hour ago. Yet for some reason I don't want to go home, back to my cold, empty flat, eat greasy food and fall asleep to the soaps even though I can't stand them. Everytime I try to make myself put on my coat, something seems to stop me. I just can't shake the....feeling that I need to be here.

"This is bloody stupid," I muttered under my breath, my eyes on the blank page in my diary, my fingers gripping the pencil, moving it along the paper, yet again drawing 'his' face, the one I'd seen in my dream the other night. 

As well as writing in my diary, I love to draw as well, wanting to remember those faces I'd seen in my dreams. Naturally, I'd had to buy a new fresh diary as I'd run out of pages. But I always kept the full book close to me with my new one. I guess you could call it my security blanket. 

Suddenly, I stand up, slamming the book shut, chucking it back inside my bag then throwing my coat on leaving the staff room fast, getting that feeling yet again. I don't know how, but I need to find Rose and fast. I just can't ignore the warning screaming at me, that she was in trouble. 

"Hey, Nig, have you seen Rose?," I called, seeing him stood near the front entrance to Henriks, the security guard automatically looking at me like I'd grown two heads making me roll my eyes. 

"Yeah, I sent her down to see Wilson with the lottery money."

I just nod turning around, making my way over to the lift, pressing the button pretty hard, it being impossible not to notice my hand is trembling. I run in the second it opens, pressing the button for the basement, the doors shutting after me.

"Come on, come on," I muttered, tapping my booted foot, the lift seeming to go awfully slow, that bad, anxious feeling seeming to increase. 

Eventually it opens, making me swallow hard, never exactly having been a fan of basements. I step out slowly, my eyes moving around me as I walk, my teeth biting on my bottom lip, seeing rows of clothing along with several mannequins. As weird as it sounds, those plastic shop window figures have always made me uneasy. Keep imagining they're gonna come alive and start moving. 

That thought makes me snort, shaking my head. Maybe I really am losing the plot picturing killer mannequins, a giggle bursting out of me. I let my hand brush one of their arms and I stop dead, my eyes widening, my hand stopping on the mannequin. 

Everything around seems to fade into blackness, making me gasp and whimper loudly. Suddenly, the darkness gets replaced with an image of a street, people walking about, shopping bags on their arms. That's when it happens, the glass of the shop windows smashing, the shop window figures coming to life, their hands having smashed them, the people outside screaming, the sound of shots being fired. 

"Ellie?. Ellie, are you okay?."

"W....what?," I cried out, the vision in my head vanishing, finding I'm on the floor of the basement on my knees, my hands on my head seeing my blonde-haired friend knelt next to me. 

"What happened?. Did you pass out?. I was looking for Wilson, heard you cry out, found you on the floor. Are you okay?."

"Y...yeah, I think so. I....I was looking for you. I'm....I'm fine, Rosy, honest," I smiled weakly getting up off the floor. 

"Hmm, not sure I believe you, b....hello?. Did you hear that?."

I frown looking at her, seeing her eyes away from me, clearly having heard something. 

"Hello?. Wilson, it's Rose and Ellie. Hello?."

"I don't like this. If he was down here, surely he would have answered," I whispered walking with her, moving through the double doors into another section of the basement and warehouse. 

The lights flicker on, Rose having thrown the switch making me jump, my eyes landing on dozens of mannequins around us, bringing to mind that vision I saw of violence and death.

"Wilson!."

"Rose, we need to get out of here right now. Oh no, no, no," I yelled hearing the door we just came through slam shut running back to it, finding it's locked. 

"Oh, you're kidding me."

"Let us out, it's not funny!."

"Is that someone mucking about?. Who is it?."

"Rose, what...?," I asked, watching her walk away, trying the door one more time then following her.

And we both stop and freeze, one of the mannequins nearest to us starting to move, walking slowly towards us making me squeak loudly. I grab her hand pulling her backwards with me.

"Okay. You got me. Very funny. Right, I've got the joke. Whose idea was this?."

"Rosy, I don't think it's a joke. We need to get out of here."

I can't stop the cry from bursting out, more dummies seeming to spring to life around us, surrounding us, stopping us from getting back to the door. I manage to manoeuvre us into a corner, the walking plastic figures crowding in on us. Was this really the way my life would end, at the hands of a group of walking statues?. I close my eyes waiting for the blow to come, my hand tightening on Rose's. Suddenly, I feel my free hand get grasped causing me to open my eyes turning my head around seeing a man stood behind me.

"Run!."

I move fast just missing the hand come down to strike me, starting to run with the strange man, my hand keeping ahold of both his and Rose's, the three of us running fast down another corridor. I glance back briefly seeing the group of mannequins chasing us making me squeak, running faster, bursting through another set of double doors ending up at a lift. 

We all run inside, the doors closing on one of the mannequins arms which goes for the man's neck. It ends up getting yanked out of the socket making both me and Rose cringe, the doors closing. 

"Okay, you just pulled his arm off," I cried, breathing heavily. 

"Yep, plastic."

"Very clever, nice trick. Who are they then, students?. Is this a student thing or what?" Rose asked, looking at him, holding the plastic arm.

"Why would they be students?."

"I don't know."

"Well, you said it. Why students?."

"Cause....to get that many people dressed up and being silly they got to be students."

"That makes sense. Well done."

"Umm, I don't think they were students. Unless one of them was an amputee," I said, frowning a little staring at Rose then moving my eyes to the man who'd saved us, his eyes meeting mine. 

"She's right. They're not students," he answered, looking back away from me.

"Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police," Rose said, still holding onto the arm.

"Who's Wilson?."

"Chief electrician."

"Wilson's dead."

"What?. Now, hang on, bad joke," I said, a little angrily following him out of the lift watching him take something out of his pocket. 

"Hold on. Mind your eyes," he said moving me back, using the thing he took out of his pocket on the buttons next to the lift, a strange sound coming out, sparks suddenly coming out. 

"We've had enough of this now. Who are you then?. Who's that lot down there?. I said who are they?," Rose shouted running with me after him.

"They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. And they're being controlled by a relay device on the roof. Which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this," he explained, pulling what looks like a detonator out of his pocket, showing it to us, "So, I'm gonna go upstairs and blow it up. And I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. No, you go home. Go on, go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this cause if you do, you'll get them killed."

"Wait, what?," I cried watching the door get slammed on us only to get opened again a few seconds later. 

"I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?."

"Ellie. And Rose."

"Nice to meet you, Ellie and Rose. Run for your lifes."

"It....it can't be," I think, my hand moving to cover my stomach, staring after where he'd disappeared, part of myself refusing to believe it's true, that he was the man I'd been seeing in my dreams my whole life.

But part of me desperately wants to believe it. But how can he possibly be real?.


	3. Ellie and Rose Part Two

For the first time in my life, I find it almost impossible to sleep. Feels like everytime I close my eyes, I see the events of the previous evening replay in my mind like a movie scene on repeat. And just like the dreams I've had my entire life, I can still smell the smoke, feel the heat from the flames, the building having been reduced to a towering inferno seconds after me and Rose had gotten out of there.

Most of all, I remember....him, that strange man who'd swooped in and saved both our lives, the feel of his hand grabbing mine still feeling fresh like it had only just happened. The thought that he now maybe dead is not the only thing keeping me awake. It's no use trying to deny it, trying to pretend that it was a mere coincidence. I know that this man is the same man whose been my constant companion since I was a child. But how is that even possible?.

I force my eyes open, letting out a heavy sigh, my pale grey orbs settling on the ceiling above me, the room still pretty dark. I feel something run down my cheek, my fingers moving to it, finding it's a tear not even realising I'd shed it. Why am I crying over someone I don't even know?. I quietly and gently get out of bed trying not to wake Rose, managing to find my bag, opening the bedroom door as softly as I can manage, making my way to the bathroom, shutting the door after me.

I lower myself onto the floor, leaning my back against the door, feeling more tears escape, streaming down my face, just about managing to stop myself from crying out. I move my hands to my face, wiping the tears away with the back of my palms, letting out a sniffle, lowering my hands to rest on my lap. And my eyes move to the birthmark on the inside of my wrist, my fingers moving to it, running them along the strange yet beautiful markings.

It's something I've never been able to understand, why I have it much the same as why I've been having the dreams. I rest my head against the door, sighing heavily, my eyes slowly closing, feeling myself finally start to give in, falling asleep.

" __ __ _Mummy?. Are you my mummy?_."

My eyes snap open fast, my breath coming out in hard, fast gasps, the dream having suddenly swooped in and claimed me. It was exactly like that 'vision' I saw in the basement, all those shop window dummies having come alive. This time, all I saw was a child, probably about five or six, a gas mask on his face, his voice sounding strange almost dreamlike.

I open my bag, pulling out my diary turning to a fresh page, starting to draw what I'd seen. For some reason, I find I'm smiling. I don't know how to explain it, but I know he's still alive.

-x-

"There's Finch's. You could try them. They've always got jobs."

"Oh, great, the butcher's," Rose sighed, staring at the apple in her hands which she's playing with, not looking at her mum.

"It might do you good. That shop was giving you and Eleanor airs and graces. And I'm not joking about compensation. You've had genuine shock and trauma. Ariana got two thousand off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek. I know she is Greek, but that's not the point. It was a valid claim"

"Don't worry, Rosy. We'll think of something," I shrugged, taking a sip from my cup of tea, my hand finding hers, squeezing it.

And we both hear a rattling coming from the front door making both of us get up from the table.

"Mum, you're such a liar. I said to nail that cat-flap down. We're gonna get strays," Rose shouted walking to the front door, crouching down, looking at the cat-flap.

"I did it weeks back."

"Nah, you thought about it."

"What the hell?," I muttered kneeling down, my fingers picking up a nail which is clearly one of the nails used to close off the cat-flap.

Suddenly it moves making me jump, my hand moving to it fast pushing it up. And I find myself looking at a face, squeaking a little jumping up, Rose moving to open the door.

"You!."

"You!. What are you doing here?."

"I live here," Rose said.

"What, both of you?."

"No, just Rose," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"What did you do that for?."

"Cause I do. I'm only home cause someone blew up mine and Ellie's job."

"And I'm here cause I didn't fancy going home, okay?."

"Must have got the wrong signal," he said, taking that same object he took out last night, pressing something, the tip glowing blue, that same whirring sound coming out," You're two aren't plastic, are you?. Nope, boneheads. Bye then."

"Oh, no, you don't. You inside now," I cried, grabbing his jacket pulling him inside, shutting the door.

"Who is it?," Jackie shouted, her voice coming from her bedroom.

"It's about last night. He's part of the inquiry. Give us 10 minutes," Rose said, popping her head into her mum's bedroom.

"She deserves compensation."

"Oh, we're talking millions," the Doctor said, looking in on her making her get up from her dressing table.

"I'm in my dressing gown."

"Yes, you are."

"There's a strange man in my bedroom."

"Yes, there is."

"Well, anything could happen."

"No."

I can't stop the snort from breaking free trying to turn it into a cough moving fast into the living room trying to avoid the Doctor's gaze watching Rose tidy up.

"Don't mind the mess. Do you want a coffee?."

"Might as well, thanks. Just milk."

"Ellie, you want one?."

"Hmm?. Oh, no, thanks. You know I can't stand coffee," I said, flopping down on the sofa.

"We should go to the police. Seriously. All of us," Rose said from the kitchen.

"That won't last. He's gay and she's an alien."

"I'm not blaming you even if it was some sort of joke."

"Mmm, sad ending."

"It said on the news they found a body."

""Rose Tyler.". "Eleanor McDermott." Ah, could have been worse. Look at the ears!."

My frown deepens hearing the Doctor mutter to himself, turning to look at him, seeing him looking at his reflection, my smile dropping the instant he looks at me making me quickly look at Rose.

"Rose, I don't think going to the police is such a good idea. Unless we want to get sectioned," I said getting up off the sofa.

"What's that then?. Have you got a cat?," he asked moving to the sofa, looking behind it.

Suddenly, he gets attacked making him stagger backwards, the same plastic arm from the previous evening grabbing him around the throat.

 

"Oh my God!. Doctor," I cried running to him, grabbing onto the arm trying to pull it off him finding it's too strong, hearing Rose continue to talk completely oblivious to what's going on.

I somehow manage to pull it off him only for it to go for me instead making me cry out, the palm covering my face, cutting off my breathing making me quickly begin to lose conciousness. I just about make out my body getting thrown into the coffee table then back onto the sofa.

I eventually get freed from its grasp, breathing heavily watching the Doctor kill it with the same object he used in the flat and on the lift door at work.

"Are you okay?," Rose asked, helping me sit up, rubbing my back.

I just nod, finding it hard to speak, still feeling a little light-headed.

"It's all right, I've stopped it. There you go, you see, armless," he said chucking the arm at us, Rose catching it.

"Do you think?."

-x-

"Hold on a minute, you can't just go swanning off."

"Yes. I can. Here I am. This is me, swanning off, see ya."

"That arm was moving, it tried to kill Ellie," Rose shouted, both of us following the Doctor, trying to keep up with him.

"Ten out of ten for observation."

"You can't just walk away. That's not fair. You've got to tell us what's going on."

"No, I don't."

"All right then. We'll go to the police. Tell them everything. You said if I did that I'd get people killed, so, your choice. Tell us or we'll start talking."

"Is that supposed to sound tough?," the Doctor asked, looking back at her.

"Sort of."

"Doesn't work."

"Please, just tell us. Who are you?," I asked walking faster moving up beside him.

"Told you, the Doctor."

"Yeah, we know. Doctor who?."

"Just the Doctor."

"The Doctor?," Rose asked walking next to me.

"Hello!," he said, waving at her.

"Is that supposed to sound impressive?."

"Sort of."

"Come on then, you can tell me. We've seen enough. Are you the police?."

"No, I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home."

"What have we done wrong?. How come these plastic things keep coming after me?," I asked, looking at him.

"Oh, suddenly, the entire world revolves around you. You were just an accident. You got in the way, that's all."

"What?. It tried to kill me!."

"It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is because you met me."

"Oh so what you're basically saying is the entire world revolves around you?."

"Sort of, yeah."

"You're full of it," Rose said, grinning making me let out a laugh, shaking my head.

"Sort of, yeah," he grinned.

"All this plastic stuff, who else knows about it?."

"No one."

"What, so you're on your own?."

"Well, who else is there?. I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed and watch telly while all the time underneath you, there's a war going on."

"Okay. Just....start from the beginning," I said leaning over, snatching the plastic arm off him.

-x-

"I mean, if we're gonna go with the living plastic and I don't even believe that, but if we do....how did you kill it?," Rose asked, looking over at the Doctor, still refusing to believe everything he had just told us, the complete opposite of how I'm feeling.

"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm.I cut off the signal-dead," he explained.

"So, that's radio control?."

"Thought control. You all right?."

"Yeah."

"So, who's controlling it then?."

"Long story."

"What's it all for?. I mean, shop window dummies, what's that all about?. Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?."

"No. It's not a price war," he said, all of us laughing, "They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me?."

"I....I don't know," I sighed, part of myself still refusing to believe what the other part believes full stop.

"But you're both still listening."

"Really, though, Doctor, tell us, who are you?."

He stops walking turning back to look at us, his eyes moving from Rose to me, our eyes meeting and locking. And just like the eyes of the man from my dreams, I see nothing but starlight in them.

"Do you know like we were saying?. About the earth revolving?. It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you that the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it cause everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it," he said, his hand taking up my own, "The turn of the earth.The ground beneath our feet is spinning at 1,000 miles an hour. And the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour. And I can feel it, we're falling through space, you and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world and if we let go. That's who I am. Now forget me, Eleanor McDermott, Rose Tyler. Go home."

"Like hell I will," I muttered under my breath watching him walk away from us carrying the plastic arm, just about fighting the desire to run after him.

And we both watch him walk up to what looks like an old phone box, blue, like the old boxes from the fifties, him opening the door, walking inside.

"Ellie?. You coming?," Rose shouted, having wandered off.

"Oh, I have got to see this," I grinned, watching something happening to the box, a strange sound emitting from it.

"What the...?," Rose cried, running back to me, both of us watching the box vanish.

"That is brilliant!."


	4. Ellie and Rose Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have changed the name of this story which was originally called Through the looking glass cause I wasn't keen on that title. Feel this new one fits it more which is taken from a song called Starlight by the band Muse.

"You're not coming in. He's safe, he's got a wife and kids," Rose said, the two of us unbuckling our seatbelts, Mickey having driven us up outside the house belonging to the man she was convinced could help us in finding out more about the Doctor. 

"Yeah, who told you that?. He did. That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say."

"Mickey, we'll be fine, okay?. It's not as if Rose is going in there by herself. If this guy turns out to be Michael Myers, we'll be sure to make a run for it," I said, smirking a little, patting him on the shoulder then getting out of the back of the car after Rose, shutting the door after me, starting to follow Rose. 

"Rose, are you....quite sure about this?. I mean...what if this guy turns out to be a nutter?."

"I'm sure. What other choice do we have?."

I nod, letting out a sigh, watching her knock on the front door, my hand moving to my necklace, starting to play with the chain a little. The door opens a few seconds later, a young boy having answered, looking to be about fifteen. For some reason, I feel like his face reminds me of someone, even though I hadn't known anybody his age. And I can't shake this overwhelming emotion that hits me, making my hand move to gather up the locket round my neck in my hand, squeezing it gently. 

"Um, hello, we've come to see Clive. We've been e-mailing," Rose told him, snapping me out of intense train of thought. 

"Oh, Dad!. It's a couple of your nutters."

"Charming," I muttered, watching him run away, a man coming to us almost straight away.

"Sorry, hello. You must be Rose and Eleanor."

"Please, call me Ellie," I smiled, shaking his hand. 

"Right. I'm Clive. Obviously," he smiled, shaking Rose's hand after my own. 

"I'd better tell you now, my boyfriend's waiting in the car just in case you're gonna kill us," Rose said.

"No, good point. No murders!."

"Who is it?."

"Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. They've been reading the website," Clive shouted, his wife clearly having been the one who asked," Please come through. I'm in the shed.".

-x-

"A lot of this stuff is quite sensitive, I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept....if you know what I mean. If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place. Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories. No first name, no last name, just "the Doctor". Always the Doctor. And the title seems to be passed down from father to son, appears to be an inheritance. That's your Doctor there, isn't it?."

"Yeah," I nod, looking at the kind of blurry photo of the Doctor on his computer screen.

"I tracked it down to the Washington Public Archive, just last year. The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original. November 22nd 1963, the assassination of President Kennedy, see?," Clive explained, showing us the original photographs, the Doctor clearly being seen among the crowds of spectators.

"Must be his father," Rose said, staring at it, having taken the photos off me.

"Going further back. April 1912, this is a photograph of the Daniels family of Southampton and friend. This was taken the day before they were due to sail to the new world. On the Titanic. And for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip, and survived. And here we are, 1883, another Doctor. Look, the same lineage, he's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra, and the very night the Krakatoa exploded. The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings the storm in his wake. And he has one constant companion."

"Who's that?."

"Death. If the Doctor's back, if either of you have seen him, then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger. If he singled you out, if he's making house calls, then God help you."

"But who is he?. Who do you think he is?," Rose asked, staring at him.

"I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world."

-x-

"Rosy, why won't you believe it?," I asked, shutting the door of Clive's house after me, starting to walk back to the car.

"Cause it's just not possible, okay?. Why are you believing it so easily?. The guy's a nutter. Off his head."

"You can't seriously tell me after what happened the other night that you're still sceptical about anything abnormal?."

"He's a complete online conspiracy freak. Okay, Mickey, you win!. What are we going to do tonight?. I fancy a pizza," Rose said, getting in the car after me.

The second I get in, I automatically get the feeling something is off, that something being Mickey who's sat behind the wheel, his face not looking exactly....normal. 

"Pizza. P....p...p...pizza."

"Or Chinese."

"Pizza."

"What about you Ellie?."

"Hmm?. Oh....anything," I muttered, looking up at her, resting my head on my palm, my elbow on the window frame, the bad feeling I was experiencing getting worse. 

And my mind goes back to Clive's son, my eyes closing, getting that overwhelming feeling I'd experienced when I first saw him swooping in again. It feels almost like....grief, like I'd known someone a long, long time ago, someone I'd ended up losing.

-x-

"Do you think we should try the hospital?. Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen. Is that it then, dishing out chips?. I could do A-levels. I don't know. It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I went and left school cause of him, look where I ended up. What do you think?."

"So where did you meet this Doctor?," Mickey asked, his behaviour getting more and more weird with every second, ever since we left Clive's house.

"I'm sorry, was I talking about me and Ellie for a second?."

"'Cause I reckon it all started back at the shop, am I right?. Was he something to do with that?."

"No. What the hell has gotten into you, Mickey?. Why is it so important?," I frowned, looking at him.

"Come on."

"Sort of. Don't look at me like that, Ellie. He kind of was," Rose sighed, looking at me then back at Mickey. 

"What was he doing there?."

"Okay, I've heard enough. I'm out of here," I said, a little angrily, getting up from the table, walking away pretty fast, glancing behind me for a second, seeing they're both still sat there. 

I smack into another person's body pretty hard, my eyes meeting with a now all-too familiar leather jacket, moving them up, meeting the Doctor's gaze, finding he looks almost concerned, clearly seeing how upset I am.

I go to speak getting shushed by his finger on his mouth seeing he's holding a bottle of champagne, his eyes leaving mine moving over to Rose and Mickey. And I walk over with him, my ears picking up Mickey's sudden inhuman speech. 

"Your champagne," the Doctor said, interrupting them.

"We didn't order any champagne. Where's the Doctor?," Mickey asked, grabbing Rose's hand. 

"Madam, your champagne."

"It's not ours. Mickey, what is it, what's wrong?," she asked. 

"I need to find out how much he knows, so where is he?."

"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?."

"Look, we didn't order....ah, got you," Mickey smirked, looking up seeing the Doctor. 

"Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house," the Doctor said, popping open the bottle, the cork flying out straight into Mickey's forehead, his skin rippling, clearly not human skin, the cork getting spat out a few seconds later. 

"Anyway," Mickey said getting up from the table, his arm morphing into a hammer going for Rose, her leaping up, his fist slamming into the table, smashing it.

Then the Doctor goes for him, getting him in a headlock, yanking his head clean off, the other diners in the restaurant clearly freaked out. 

"Don't think that's gonna stop me."

"Okay, everybody get the hell out!. NOW!," I yelled, slamming my fist into the fire alarm, Mickey's headless body getting up, starting to attack again.

I feel my hand get grabbed in Rose's, the two of us running with the Doctor, making our way through the kitchens, the staff in there running out as well, bursting our way through the back door, the headless body still chasing us.

And my eyes automatically land on the blue police box, the same as the one I saw vanish yesterday, feeling instantly drawn towards it, my hand dropping from Rose's. The Doctor uses his device to lock the door to the restaurant. 

"Open the gate!. Use that tube thing. Come on!," Rose cried, trying to get through the locked gates. 

"Sonic screwdriver."

"Use it!."

"Nah, tell you what, let's go in here."

"You can't hide inside a wooden box."

"Well, I bloody am," I said, running in after the Doctor, instantly stopping dead the second I run inside, my grey eyes widening, my hand moving over my mouth. 

It's big, massive in fact, definitely nothing like it looks on the outside. For the first time in my life, I'm speechless. I hear the door slam shut behind me, turning around seeing Rose walk in.

"It's gonna follow us."

"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door. Believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute. You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source. Right. Where do you want to start?."

"Um....the inside's bigger then the outside."

"Yes."

"It's alien."

"Yep."

"Like....like you," I said quietly, walking over to him, stopping a few inches away from where's stood. 

"Yes. Is that all right?."

"Why wouldn't it be?. It's....it's brilliant," I laughed, turning around, staring up above my head then dropping my eyes, taking in everything before me.

"It's called the Tardis, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S, that's Time And Relative Dimension In Space. That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us."

"She's beautiful," I grinned, walking to one of the beams, running my hand along it, feeling a gentle hum hit my mind, almost as if the Tardis tried to communicate with me.

"How do you know it's a she?."

"I....I just feel it."

"Did they kill him?. Mickey?. Did they kill Mickey?. Is he dead?," Rose asked. 

"Don't say that, Rosy."

"Is he?."

"Oh, I didn't think of that."

"He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think. And now you're just gonna let him melt."

"Melt?. Aw, no, no, no, no!," the Doctor cried, running around the console. 

"What are you doing?."

"Following the signal. It's fading. Wait a minute. I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no!."

"Woah," I gasped, holding onto the beam I'd touched, feeling the ship start to rock pretty violently, the column in the centre of the console glowing blue, moving up and down. 

Unlike Rose was feeling, I was experiencing feelings I'd felt before, knowing this ship had appeared in my dreams more then once. But it looks so much bigger then in those dreams. I'm feeling more and more like I belong here not knowing why. And why am I feeling such a powerful pull towards the Doctor when I've only known him a few days?.


	5. Ellie and Rose Part Four

"Ellie?. Ellie, speak to me. ELLIE!."

"Alright, alright. No need to yell at me, I'm not bloody deaf," I groaned, getting up off the floor slowly, feeling a little shaky, the Tardis having clearly stopped, Rose's hand on my arm.

And it's impossible to miss the concerned look in her blue eyes, no idea how I ended up on the floor, my head feeling like it had a heavy metal band setting up home in it, my hand moving to my forehead. Even though it was my blonde-haired friend I was looking at, all I can seem to see is him, the Doctor, his face different again, the same visage I'd seen in the last dream I'd had of him.

"Ellie?. Come back to me."

"S...sorry. Where...where's the Doctor?," I asked, my eyes leaving hers, seeing he's nowhere to be found, running to the door fast, opening it, finding he's just outside, the view suddenly a lot different to the last time we were outside, that 'thing' that looked like Mickey nowhere to be found. 

"I lost the signal. I got so close."

"We've moved. Does it fly?," Rose asked, stepping out of the Tardis after me, shutting the door.

"It disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand."

"But if we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing that's on the loose?."

"It's probably dead, Rosy. Melted with the head," I shrugged, my eyes moving from hers to the Doctor, finding he's again looking at me strangely. 

"Are you going to witter on all night?," he asked, his eyes leaving mine pretty fast, walking away from us, making me sigh. 

"I'll have to tell his mother. Mickey....I'll have to tell his mother he's dead and you just went and forgot him, again!. You were right. You are alien," Rose said, clearly more then a little angry. 

"If I forgot some kid called Mickey..."

"He's not a kid!."

"....it's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering about on this planet, all right?."

"All right?."

"Yes, it is."

"Guys, just....quit, already?. We don't have time for this," I sighed, running my hand through my dark locks then dropping it to my locket, gathering it up in my palm, it's warmth helping me calm down a little. 

"If you are an alien, why do you sound like you're from the North?."

"Lots of planets have a North."

"What's a police public call box?."

"It's a telephone box from the 1950s. My aunt showed me loads of photographs when I was growing up," I said, smiling a little. 

"But why does your....ship look like one?," Rose asked, frowning. 

"It's a disguise," the Doctor smiled, making my own widen a little. 

"Okay.....and this living plastic, what's it got against us?."

"Oh, nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet, lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air. Perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, its protein planets rotted. So. Earth. Dinner."

"Any way of stopping it?."

"Antiplastic," he grinned, pulling a large vial of dark blue liquid out of his pocket. 

"Wait, that's antiplastic?," I asked, staring at it.

"Yep!. But first, I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?."

"Hide what?."

"The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"What does it look like?," Rose asked.

"Like a transmitter!. Round and massive, somewhere slap-bang in the middle of London. A huge, metal, circular structure like a dish, like a wheel, radial, close to where we're standing. It must be completely invisible."

"Ummm, I don't think so," I smirked, looking out at the object far off into the distance, directly behind where the Doctor is standing. 

"What?. What?. What is it?. What?," he asked, turning around, looking straight at the London Eye, turning back towards us, realisation settling in on his face, "Oh. Fantastic!."

-x-

"Think of it. Plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables."

"The breast implants."

"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."

"What about down there?," I asked, seeing a set of steps leading down towards something not far from where we were.

"Looks good to me," the Doctor said, the three of us making our way fast down the steps, walking over to what looks like a sealed door, him managing to get it open, red light flooding out, smoke or steam hitting us in the face. 

Part of me wants to go down, find the Consciousness, put a stop to it and possibly save millions of people. The other part of me wants to run away, try and forget everything I'd seen knowing if I chose the opposite then I could die as well as my friend. But knowing if ran away now then I'd be abandoning the Doctor is forcing me to go with the former, climbing down the ladder after Rose, ending up in a quite dark tunnel leading off into the distance. 

My hand automatically reaches out for Rose's, not wanting to lose her even more then my own life, us sticking close together, the Doctor pushing a door open, us moving out onto a metal staircase. 

"The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat, a living plastic creature."

"Well then, tip in your antiplastic and let's go," Rose said, her hand squeezing mine quite firmly, her obviously just as scared as I am.

"I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance. I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation," the Doctor said, the creature below us seeming to answer him, its language sounding strange and inhuman," Thank you. If I might have permission to approach."

"Oh, my God. Mickey!. It's me. It's okay. It's all right. It's all right," Rose cried running to Mickey, him being alive and looking to be unhurt if a little freaked out.

"Ssshhh. That thing, down there....the liquid, Rose, it can talk," Mickey cried, shaking like a leaf, Rose comforting him as best she could. 

"You're stinking. Doctor, they kept him alive."

"Yeah, that was always a possibility, keep him alive to maintain the copy," the Doctor explained. 

"Oh, wonderful!. So you knew that and you didn't think to tell us," I said, a little angrily. 

"Can we keep the domestics outside?. Am I addressing the Consciousness?. Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warped, shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?. Oh, don't give me that!. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights. I am talking!. This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learned how to walk. But they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you, on their behalf. Please, just go."

"DOCTOR!," I screamed seeing two mannequins walk up behind him, grabbing his arms, restraining him, watching him struggle to get free. 

"That was just insurance. I wasn't gonna use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy, I swear, I'm not. What do you mean?. No, no, no!. Honestly, no," the Doctor cried, struggling, the Tardis getting revealed behind a door, it obviously having been brought down here.

"Yes, that's my ship. That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. We....we both did. What?. I....I don't know. It wasn't our fault. We couldn't save your world. We couldn't save any of them."

"What's it doing?," Rose cried.

"It's the Tardis. The Nestene's identified it as superior technology. It's terrified!. It's going to the final base. It's starting the invasion. Get out, Rose...Eleanor!. Just leg it, now!. It's the activational signal. It's transmitting."

"Rose, take Mickey and get out of here," I said, turning to look at her.

"We....we can't. The stairs have gone. And I'm not leaving without you."

"TIME LORD!."

"Rosy, I can't leave him. He....he needs my help. And I'm gonna give it to him. It's a good thing I've always been great at rope swinging," I said loudly, running over to the wall, finding some chains attached to it, managing to get one loose. 

And I jump onto it, pushing myself out towards the Doctor, slamming my feet into one of the mannequins that were restraining him, knocking it straight into the Consciousness, the one that happened to holding the vial of antiplastic, it tipping over, emptying into the creature, it starting to cry out, thrashing about, the liquid having an instant effect. 

I end up swinging back into the Doctor's arms, him stopping me from falling over, our eyes meeting, grinning at each other, his arms around my waist. 

"Now we're in trouble."


End file.
